Read The Fine Print
by Shade Penn
Summary: (Croft and Son side story) It was supposed to be both a bonding experience and a learning journey, but this mother-son outing becomes disastrous when Lara's past catches up with her.
1. Nowhere I'd Rather Be

**(Takes place after Vacation Destination. I couldn't keep this to a shorter one shot, so I decided to try out giving this one more room to breathe. Now, while some characters are cribbed from the Legends timeline, the plot is not the same as in any game except perhaps the loosest of framework)**

* * *

"You know, if I was aware you got to travel in such style I might have bugged you a lot more about going on digs."

Lara rolled her eyes at Nero's statement, her son staring up at a yacht taken to almost cruise-ship levels. Dock workers and ship hands milled aroud the port, and two had taken their luggage on board already. "Not every expedition was funded by a rich man with money to burn. If this were under normal circumstances, we'd be flying a charter plane to the site."

Nero crossed his arms. His red zipped hoodie had long sleeves to cover his arm, and his right hand kept hidden by a glove. He'd gotten another hair-cut recently, a bit short and clipped but the ends swept back. The fringe was short, but hung a bit at an angle almost over left eye. No one said anything, but if Lara were honest, she'd admit the bangs were kept in a similar way to how Dante's were styled nowadays. Nero would probably argue about that, because Dante's bangs hung on the _right_ side of his face.

"It's still a site on a tropical island." Nero replied. "And this isn't exactly normal circumstances. It's a _learning_ experience." he smirked.

"Which you wouldn't even have been allowed to come on if I didn't check it over with Mr. Rutland first." Lara retorted.

"And I am so infinitely grateful and did I tell you lately you're like the best mom ever?" Nero's tone was almost simpering, but he couldn't keep the smile off his face.

Lara returned it slightly. "You did, this morning before we got here, and after the arrangements were finalized." she said, and crossed her arms. "Though don't think this is a chance for you to slack off and think you're on another vacation. You will behave as though this were a job; you wanted the experience before you sent out your college and university applications after all." she explained, having checked his luggage before they left to make sure he didn't try sneaking his weapons on board for another test run like before.

Nero ducked his head. "I remember." he muttered, but nodded. He _said_ he wanted to be going with her because it would look good on an application, but it seemed he finally reached the age where apparently saying you wanted to spend time with your mother was out of the question.

Lara sighed quietly. She had blinked, and it was like her son had grown from seven to seventeen without her looking. This was likely going to be the last thing they did together before he went off to pursue higher education. And Sam reminding her of that fact was what made Lara finally concede and ask Rutland about bringing her son with her.

Which reminded her... "We need to go meet Mr. Rutland for the debriefing." Lara said, and gestured to the plank connecting the dock to the yacht.

"Like, on the phone or laptop?" Nero asked.

Lara shook her head. "No, he decided to oversee the expedition."

"What, does he think we're looking for a hidden gold mine and we'll steal something?" Nero asked in disbelief.

"He's the one paying for all this." Lara replied. "It's the sort of thing you might want to learn now; the one who's paying is the one who sets the rules."

Nero grimaced, and he stuffed his hands into his jean pockets. "Great." he muttered. "Will they all be like this?"

Lara wasn't _quite_ if he meant contracts or people, but she decided to answer both. "Not all; many jobs will just be working on dating artifacts in a museum, and most sponsors aren't really interested in being on site."

"So we have an exception." Nero said.

"Pretty much." Lara replied. She paused when she spotted the head of dark hair and equally dark sunglasses peering over the ledge of the upper deck. The man pulled away and disappeared, with Lara gently elbowing Nero in the ribs. "Try not to insult him though, he can be a bit...abrasive."

Nero narrowed his eyes, but nodded. "I make no promises, but I'll try." he finally said.

They both walked onto the deck, and around them people rushed from one end of the ship to the next, ready to set sail. They both avoided and were in turn avoided by the crew members running around.

"He's just one guy, and he needs a boat the size of a cruise ship? What, is he like a billionaire?" Nero muttered.

"He's the youngest son of a Senator in the states. Mr. James Rutland Jr., I believe, is spoiled." Lara said primly.

Nero puffed his chest out. "I don't act like I have something to prove."

"You are spoiled though," Lare retorted, and Nero looked at her with exaggerated hurt, "you're just antisocial so you don't really feel the need to show off for anyone."

"That was harsh, Mom." Nero snorted, before grumbling out, "And I'm not antisocial, Nico's my friend-I think."

"No need to feel embarrassed, I wasn't exactly a social butterfly. In fact, it wasn't until my university days that I met Sam and..." Lara trailed off, her lips thinning. "Well, I didn't have a lot of friends either, but the ones I do have I wouldn't trade for anything in the world."

Nero appeared thoughtful, his brows furrowed. "That does sound nice, and I guess Nico isn't _so_ bad." he grimaced. "I just wish she stopped smoking so much around me, it really irritates my nose."

Lara patted him on the shoulder, before they reached the upper deck. Rutland had taken to lounging on a beach chair, one hand behind his head and the other holding a glass. "Mr. Rutland, how are you?"

"Who? My name's James." The man drawled, before tilting his head over at them, his eyes still obscured by sunglasses. He grinned widely. "That was a joke." He snorted when neither Lara nor Nero laughed. "You Brits and your stiff upper lip."

Lara noticed Nero narrowing his eyes, jaw tightening. She decided to speak up before he did. "Mr-ah, James, thank you for allowing my son to join me on this expedition. It was very kind of you to accommodate us."

"No problem." Rutland said dismissively. "It's cute Junior here is following in Mommy's footsteps." he paused, noticing Nero's gloved hand. "What happened to your arm there, sport?"

"Accident," Nero said in a clipped tone, "don't really like anyone seeing it."

"So it's messed up, huh? Long as it's not some kind of infection." Rutland replied.

Nero's eye twitched. "It's not. You don't have to worry about that."

"Good." Rutland paused. "Hey, I thought you were English like your mommy, kid? Why no posh accent? You sound like you're an American like me."

Lara found herself clasping a hand on Nero's shoulder when his body tensed up. "It's just something he picked up."

"Oh, right, must have had an American nanny. Funny, I had an English one, a real old Mary Poppins." Rutland drawled.

Lara's smile felt fixed, stiff as she tried to maintain her composure. "I think we should discuss the details of the expedition."

Rutland took a long swig of his drink. "Right, right. You get a week to search the caves, find anything like jewels or gold, you bring it to me. Any old-timey relics like coins or whatever, you can do your archeology thing."

Lara breathed out slowly. "Yes, of course. Thank you for clarifying it. We'll be in our cabin."

"And enjoy your ride there. Try the buffet, I think the special is that Earl Grey tea you Brits like." Rutland called as Lara and Nero made for the exit.

Once out of earshot, Nero growled, "I don't think I've ever wanted to punch someone so badly in my life."

Lara sighed softly. "Yes, there's always a chance you'll have to work with people like that too, not just be bossed around by them." She patted his back when they reached the lower deck. "Why don't you go try the food? Bring me something back?"

Nero's tension slowly drained, and he nodded. "Alright, might as well not waste a free meal."

Lara chuckled, and walked to the rail of the boat. The vessel rocked gently by the waves, blue as far as the eye could see. She closed her eyes, tilting her head back as the sun warmed her face, the breeze ruffling the strands of her ponytail. There were footsteps and such in the background, but otherwise it was peaceful. '_For once._' she thought, before shaking her head. No, she couldn't jinx herself.

Stepping back, Lara found herself almost bumping into someone. "Oh, I'm sorry." she said. The deck hand kept walking though, the bleach blonde hair spilling out under the cap to the shoulders. Lara's brows furrowed, but all thoughts screeched to a halt when the deck hand glanced back at her.

A feminine face, dainty features and a fringe framing it in such a way Lara thought she was seeing a ghost from almost twenty years ago, on an expedition in South America. It-it couldn't be though, not after what happened there. Being in Peru almost made the memories surface, left her reeling but it was nothing compared to now.

"M-miss-" Lara stopped, because in the blink of an eye, the woman was gone. Like she wasn't there. Lara rubbed her brow. "Get it together, Lara, you can't go spacing out." she scolded herself.

"Mom, is something wrong?"

Lara stiffened in surprise, before glancing over her shoulder where Nero was standing. He held two cups of tea in his hands, and a concerned expression on his face. "Oh, yes, I'm fine." Lara said, and accepted one of the glasses. "Just tea? I thought you were going to eat?"

"I am, but it's kinda depressing to think there's all that food and no one else is in there." Nero replied. "Why do I get the feeling Rutland makes the crew eat below deck?"

"He likely does." Lara said. "You didn't happen to see anyone on your way out, did you?"

Nero's brows furrowed. "No," he said slowly, "I didn't. Are you okay?"

Lara nodded, smiling though the edges were strained. "Quite fine, perhaps just a bit hungry though." she linked her arm with his, leading him back to the dining hall. "Now you won't need to eat alone and have the empty room judging you."

Nero snorted. "It's not _judging_ me, it's just mad Rutland spends too much on a ship just for one person."

* * *

The trip was long, which was no surprise given that Lara knew it could take a few some time to get to the tropics by boat. She spent what time they had on board going over safety regulations with Nero, or rubbing his back when seasickness got to him as he threw up ("I'm part-demon, why the hell do I always get seasick?") or checking in with Sam about how the manor was holding up ("It's good, but I spent all of yesterday having to explain why Nero hasn't been picking up any of his friend's calls. Tell him Nico said she's going to give him an earful when he's back-well, she said it a lot more _colorfully_ but still.")

By the time they reached the island, it was nearing sunset and Nero finally stopped looking green, figuratively speaking. Lara didn't know what medical condition to cite in order to explain _actual_ greeness. Nero sucked in a deep breath, and gazed out at the scenery. Lara also admired the view, a sandy beach and palm trees scattered along the shore line. The port ran a little out from the coast, but even from the distance, Lara spotted three beach houses nestled by the jungle.

Rutland walked down from the plank towards them, raising his arms out in a flourish. "What do you think? Pretty impressive, ain't it? This whole island is mine, got it for graduating West Point." he lowered his sunglasses to peer over at Nero. "Has your mommy bought you anything like that yet, kid?"

"No." Nero said bluntly, his jaw clenched.

Rutland apparently took it another way, shaking his head. "Sorry to hear that," he sounded anything but as he pushed his glasses back up, "it must suck to be you then. I guess that's why you're going to dig into boring history than living it up. Only child, you really got it made and you suck at taking advantage of it."

Lara once more grabbed Nero's tense shoulder, and turned him back to the shore, departing with him while over her shoulder she said to Rutland, "Again, thank you for the opportunity to explore the ruins here" while lowering her voice she told Nero, "You find anything gold and shiny, let me deal with the magpie."

Nero's mouth curled into a grin, before he slapped a hand over it to stifle his laugh. "Let's hope he's just agreed to oversee as an excuse to lay about on the beach and not bug us."

Lara laughed softly and swiped at his hair. "Come on, I'll race you. Winner gets the big bedroom."

Nero took off like a rocket, and Lara smiled as she hurried after him.

* * *

Perhaps it was his imagination, but Nero wondered if he only won the race because his mother let him win, having 'stumbled' at the last moment. He trained more to put extra force behind his sword strikes like Trish advised, not at building his speed. Given that this was a fancy beach house, the second bedroom appeared furnished just as nicely as the bigger one he tossed his suitcase into.

A four poster, king-sized bed with a mosquito guard, and three large windows to let Nero take in the view outside of the beach and jungle. A private bathroom was set to the side, with a crystalline shine so bright it made Nero's eyes hurt to look at it. He'd just need to leave the door open and boom, instant night light.

Nero peered outside the room. "Hey, Mom, how's your room?"

"It's fine." Lara called back. "Though I do think the giant bathroom is a bit much."

"Yeah, starting to think the only difference is that this room has a bit more space." Nero replied, and ducked back inside. He walked to one of the windows, with the beach view. Glancing around, Nero furrowed his brow. Rutland was still on the dock, talking on a phone. _I thought Mom said there was no cell reception here?_'

It must have been the tail-end of the conversation, as Rutland snapped his phone shut and waved off the ship. The yacht started to depart, and the man headed for one of the other beach houses. He stopped, and Nero caught the man's covered stare. Rutland smiled widely, giving a lazy wave before continuing on his way.

Nero raised a brow, before shaking his head and dismissed it. _'This place better have some food._' He didn't want to start in on the energy bars his mother packed for them to eat. "Gonna check out the kitchen, want anything, Mom?"

"No, I'll make something later." Lara called, her voice echoing, giving away she was checking out the bathroom. "Don't eat everything up though!"

Nero snorted, and rolled his shoulders as the rest of the beach house was just a very small living room and little more than an alcove in the wall across it for a kitchen. A stove, fridge, and sink all clustered into a tight space. Well, now Nero knew where most of the spectacle for this house went.

The fridge was filled with beer and soda, or he thought it was soda anyway. The freezer was stuffed full of frozen dinners. Nero shrugged and grabbed one of the dinners, tossing it into the oven to heat up as he searched for utensils. Nero paused, his gaze going down as his arm began glowing through the sleeve.

His stomach dropped, and he only had time to look up before the window in the living room shattered. A high-pitch shriek nearly sent Nero reeling as he covered his ears. The _thing_ which just broke into the house was something he'd never seen before. If this was a demon, it was one of the most disgusting creatures to exist.

A replica of a human body, flat and formless but it was so _wrong_. __No eyes, but black sockets stared lifelessly out, releasing another shriek. It was as though someone turned a person inside out, the creature dripping blood along the floor - from the cuts or if it was bleeding already too disturbing a question to answer.

Nero reached for his back, but found air. "Shit!" The one time he actually leaves his weapons at home.

The demon screamed, like nails on a chalkboard before it lunged at him. Nero rolled out of the way, hearing it crash into the fridge behind him. He reached for the open drawer, pulling it out and digging through until the silverware clinked against something hard. His demonic hand.

_'Wait, that's right!'_ He had been so caught up in sulking over leaving Red Queen and Blue Rose behind both he and his mother forgot about the other weapon. Nero focused, and in his hand materialized the familiar grip of the Yamato.

Just as quick, the blade was knocked from his grasp as the creature tackled him. "Damn it!" Nero avoided the claws which tried scratching for his face, and grabbed the bloody arms to push it back. The creature was strong, hissing and shrieking as it tried snapping at Nero's face. The blood it oozed spilled onto his cheek, his hoodie soaking in places it landed that a wave of disgust and nausea threatened to overwhelm him. It even smelled like a cadaver, antiseptic and death.

A black boot came into his field of vision, in time to kick the creature squarely in the face. A wet crunch followed as it was tossed off. Lara grabbed Nero by the shoulder, half-dragging him back. She grasped the Yamato on the way, and began looking him over.

"Are you hurt?" she asked.

"What? No, it didn't get me-" Nero was interrupted when the creature lunged at Lara, catching her off guard and tackled them over the sofa. "Mom!" he called, and tore his glove off as he raced over. He was going to eviscerate that thing if his mother was hurt.

The creature was still trying to claw at Lara, who was holding it by the wrists not unlike Nero had shortly before. Her eyes flickered to the Yamato by her side, and Nero dove for it. His hand wrapped around the handle and he swung it upwards. The demon screamed as the blade tore into its side. It got thrown off, and Lara staggered to her feet, holding her shoulder.

"Mom-"

"I'm fine, it just scratched me." Lara replied. She noticed Nero's arm glowing. "A demon? How could one this mindless manage to get this far out here?"

Nero didn't get a chance to reply as the creature hissed, jumping to its feet. It's black sockets began filling, white sclera forming around two yellow irises though its pupils remained white. The disgusting inside out human body started growing skin, and globs of blood spat out through the horror show.

The creature's back let out a crack, and it screamed before fleeing back out through the window. Nothing but the cast-off remained scattered on the floor.

Lara breathed heavily, hand tight on her shoulder. "Nero, we need to get Rutland, and get off this island. No expedition is worth being in danger, especially with no knowledge of what that thing is."

Nero nodded, and found a first-aid kit for his mother to tape up the cut along her shoulder. It joined a myriad of scars already there, and Nero's stomach rolled every time he saw the one from the shadow demon. His hand clamped harder around Yamato's handle, and Lara armed herself with a large steak knife before heading outside.

The moon seemed to be mocking them, bright on the sand and grass, lighting up the area but gave them no sign of the where the demon fled too. The blood trail it leaked stopped mid-way in between the houses.

Nero pointed at the house nearest to the beach. "I saw Rutland going in there."

Lara nodded, and they both made for the building as quiet as can be. Even the wildlife was silent, no birds or bugs making a sound in the night. Once they reached the door, Lara knocked. "James? Open up, we need to go." No answer, and Lara sighed in frustration before jiggling the door handle, immediately turning with a click. The fact it was unlocked sent a chill down Nero's spine. "James?"

The house was silent and dark, the only light coming from the porch. Nero glanced to the last house, but it too had no lights on. Then his gaze caught sight of the shiny red liquid on the ground, and his stomach did flips, kicking him harder than the seasickness. The demon's trail disappeared, but he found where it had originated.

"I saw Rutland come to this house," Nero said quietly, and Lara glanced at him, "and I saw him on a phone. He told you in his emails there was no reception, right?" She nodded, and it was dawning in her eyes what he was getting at. "Rutland sent his yacht away, and the blood trail the demon had leads back to that house." he pointed to said house. "An empty place, perfect to store something for later use." Like a mindless beast.

The accusation hung in the air, and his mother finally said, "You think we've been set-up."


	2. We All Fall Down

Lara could have come up with a dozen excuses as to why Rutland wasn't in the beach house, why he lied about no cell reception, or even why the demon was there. She didn't voice any of them though, because there was still a demon on the loose, and they needed to get off this island. "We search the house," she decided finally, "find anything that can give us an idea of what this whole thing is. At best, it's not connected and just a bad coincidence."

"And if it is?" Nero asked.

Lara's expression hardened. "Rutland is going to have a lot of explaining to do."

Nero nodded, and closed the door behind them. "I'll go check the bedrooms. Maybe there's a phone or something hidden away."

"Be careful." Lara warned.

Nero grinned, but something uncertain shined behind his eyes. "I'll be fine, I got this." he said, lifting Yamato. In the time Lara was aware of that sword's existence, she was actually glad for once to have it around.

"Still, I'm your mother, I can't help worrying." Lara replied, and squeezed his shoulder before letting him go. She listened to his footsteps drift further away, and sighed as she came into the living room. It had the same small and utilitarian design of the other house, and it stood to reason that all three shared the same structure.

Lara checked every cabinet she could find, for anything close to resembling a clue or useful item. Nothing but beer in the fridge, and DVDs scattered haphazardly by the television. She was going to get her son off this island if she needed to make a raft from palm trees and spit. _'But it would just be my luck for something like this to happen._' she thought scathingly.

Lara checked around the cabinets pushed against the window, but her gaze caught a silhouette outside. She straightened up, and her eyes widened; the brightness of the moon left no room for it to be a trick of the eye. The same woman from the boat, the same features and bleach blonde hair. Lara's stomach sank when she realized what the woman was wearing, a white, flowery shirt and shorts. More than ever, Lara was sure she was staring at a ghost.

"Amanda?" Lara called weakly, going closer to the glass door. Her eyes adjusted, and she furrowed her brow at the pendant around the ghost's neck, too far for any details.

Lara blinked though, and the ghost was gone, leaving Lara staring at her reflection once more, tilting her head and it copied her. Then it caught up with her when she saw the yellow eyes, this _wasn't_ her reflection. The image smirked, and Lara took cover as a gun was pointed at her. Several shots shattered the glass, and Lara stared over the top of the sofa.

"What are you?" she demanded, fingers tight on the knife.

The image tilted its head the other way, yellow eyes and white pupils staring hard at her, hair mistaken for brown actually dark red, pulled into a braided ponytail. The skin was white, but a color so pale that Lara swore she saw veins in the visible parts of the arms and face.

"I'm you," the copy even sounded like her, "the _better_ you."

Lara eyed the clothes her copy wore. "I seriously doubt I'd ever wear something like that." she said, taking in the leather outfit; a vest and tight trousers with black boots.

The copy's eyes narrowed slightly, and the dark shadows underneath seemed to deepen. "Well, options were limited."

Lara's shoulders tensed when the gun was pointed squarely on her. "You're a shapeshifter then? Was that inside-out form you attacked my son in really necessary?"

The copy frowned, but the eyes flickered when Nero shouted, "Mom! Are you alright?" and the copy replied, "Fine, sweetheart, nothing to worry about."

"What? I heard gun shots though-!"

"Stay where you are, and don't make me say it again!" The copy snarled, head snapping over to the hall.

Lara tossed the knife, flinging herself back over the couch. The handle smacked against the copy's wrist, who looked back in time for Lara's fist to meet her face. The copy jerked back, and Lara slammed her elbow down on the wrist, the gun clattering on ground. Lara dropped to avoid the copy kicking her foot out, more of the glass door shattering with the force. Lara grabbed the gun and fired. Two shots caught the copy in the face, blowing away bits of flesh and bone.

The sight of a face so much her own being mangled made Lara's stomach roll as the copy reached for its visage, both eyes blotted out by the bullets. Taking her chance, Lara ducked through the broken door and shoved the copy over the rail. The body landed on the pavement underneath with a _crunch_. Lara glanced back as Nero rushed in, eyes darting around before they found her.

His expression fell in open shock at the sight of the broken door. "Mom, what happened? Why did you-"

"That wasn't me who answered you." Lara explained, and dusted the glass shards off her. "I think the demon who attacked us in the other house was a shapeshifter. It tried shooting me with this." she held up the gun.

Nero hesitated just a moment by the glass door, his eyes going to his sleeve. His hand wasn't glowing. His shoulders sagged, and he ran through the door to hug her with one arm. "It sounded just like you though." he said quietly. "Did it hurt you?"

"No, I managed to find cover before any of the bullets hit me." Lara replied, and gestured for the rail. "I did though manage to get the gun away from it, and shoved it over the rail-" she stopped. The body on the pavement was gone, leaving nothing but a thinning blood trail. "How much does it take to kill a demon? I shot the thing twice in the face!"

"The old man said it takes high caliber bullets and cutting off the head helps." Nero replied, before shaking his head. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I actually wish I could ask him what the hell to do now."

"_Our_ plan though hasn't changed." Lara reminded him, grabbing him by the shoulders. "Did you manage to find a phone?"

Nero's expression soured, and he wiped the dried blood from his cheek. "No, I didn't find anything. Rutland's managed to completely disappear. Even his terrible cologne just fades out."

"Let's regroup at our beach house, and we can-" Lights flickered outside, and Lara pulled Nero with her back into the house. They took cover behind the couch again as another light went over the pavement.

Voices outside rang through the broken door. "It looks like the targets aren't on sight."

Another cursed, answering with, "Then we'll fan out and find them. Mr. Rutland was very clear-they don't leave the island."

"Even the kid?" A third called, and Lara tensed, her grip tightening on Nero's shoulder as he clenched his fist.

"Both of them." The second replied bluntly. "No proof of death, we don't get paid. Now a group will search the coast, they couldn't have gotten far, and a few will stay here in case they come back."

The lights faded away, and Nero growled out, "That son of a bitch really is out to get us."

Lara couldn't even bring herself to scold him, the underlining fury simmering beneath the surface. This whole thing- the contract, the payment, it was all just a trap? "I've never even _met_ James Rutland before, why would he want to kill us?" she paused, and the reality of the conversation sank in. "Us," she repeated, "I can see why someone would want me dead, but you've done nothing wrong." she finished, brows furrowed.

"I guess we'll find out once we see Rutland before getting out of here." Nero replied. "Those mercenaries must have come here on some kind of ship or something, right? Maybe we just need to find where they stashed it."

Lara nodded, though stopped as she gazed down at the gun. "The demon is still out there though, and it's not as mindless as we thought. Although, if it had a gun, maybe it has more weapons we can use-or at least another magazine."

"You want to go search the other beach house? Where the demon might be?" Nero asked dubiously.

"It's better than just sitting here, and even with the Yamato you can't deflect bullets yet." Lara retorted.

Nero held her gaze a bit longer, before his gaze went downcast and sighed. "I guess you're right. I'm still pissed that this all turned out to be fake. Can't put this on an application."

"We'll call it survival training." Lara said grimly. Nero snorted, and they both silently went for the front door. Lara peered out the window beside it, but the mercenaries still out there had yet to patrol this area. She saw the lights at the beach house they were previously in on, so that didn't help with noticing any irregular lighting. She glanced to Nero, placing a finger over her lips in the 'shhh' manner.

He nodded, and Lara opened the door slowly. She made sure he was just behind her, because even if there wasn't much of a distance, the fact hired guns were after them made it imperitive to keep quiet and stick close. The door door clicked open, and they kept made sure to avoid the living room and its giant windows. It would have given the mercenaries their position right off the bat.

"Could this be anymore like a horror movie?" Nero muttered, spotting the blood trail from the shapeshifter. It was dark and dried already, so the demon either hadn't come back, or it was hiding.

Lara hoped it was the former. "Which is why neither of us is leaving each other alone this time." she replied.

"Seconded." Nero agreed, and Lara peered into the first bedroom where the blood trail began.

The room itself was immaculate, bed made and unlived in, aside from the trail which seemed to go directly into the wall. Lara stared at the painting, and rubbed her brow. Could there be something back there? A hidden room, maybe? Lara tugged Nero with her over to the wall, but when she moved the painting aside-a keypad stared back.

"Unbelievable. What's he need to hide on a private island?" Nero asked aloud.

"Apparently a lot, given the demon must have come through this wall." Lara said. Something under her foot crumpled, and she reached down to peel a worn photo out from the layer of blood. It was upside down, with numbers too worn to make out. Flipping it over though had Lara's stomach sinking deep.

Nero peered at it, his brows shooting up. "Mom, who's that with you and Sam? And...why is it _here_?" his mouth curled into a frown. "No, why does _Rutland_ have this?"

Lara found it hard to breath. The photo, almost twenty years old, of her and Sam from their university days, and the blonde sitting with them in the picture. "Her...her name was Amanda." Lara answered faintly, her knees wobbling but she forced herself to continue. "Amanda Evert. She was my...my friend. One of the people Sam introduced me too. She was studying to be a metaphysicist, but was taking an antropology course on the side."

"Was?" Nero asked. Then he peered closer at Lara's face, and his brows knitted in concern. "Mom, what's wrong?"

"It...it was an accident," Lara said, her fingers white from clutching the photo so hard, "we were on a class trip to Peru, and the two of us had wandered off into a cavern. I thought we hadn't gone far, but there was a cave-in, and we got separated." She felt Nero's hand curl around her arm, but she barely felt it through the numbness. "There was a search, but...but no one ever found Amanda."

"Do you think Rutland knew her? Is that why he's doing this?" Nero asked.

Lara couldn't be sure, but she wasn't willing to say the hallucination she'd been seeing wasn't the demon impersonating Amanda. "It's almost been twenty years, why wait after so long?"

Nero shrugged. "He doesn't exactly seem like a tactical genius, maybe he couldn't think of anything until now? Did he ever try to sue you?"

"The ones sued were the school, and it was just Amanda's family who filed the lawsuit." Lara replied. "Plus she never mentioned seeing anyone." She rubbed her brow. "And that's not even trying to explain where this demon fits in."

"Let's stick with the human angle." Nero said, and led Lara to the bed to sit down. "Rutland knew this Amanda somehow, and he thinks you're responsible. He wants revenge, that's what this whole thing is about."

"I can see that, but why would he agree to let _you_..." Lara trailed off, because she the reason was so obvious from that motive. "He believes I took away someone he loved, and now he wants to do the same."

"That creep can try, but you and I are leaving this island together." Nero said, his eyes fixed and sure.

Despite the reality weighing down on her, Lara smiled just a little. "Yes, this is no time to fall apart. Let's see what we can find in here. You look around, and I'll see if I can figure out the password."

Nero nodded, but when he turned away, Lara's smile dropped. She _wished_ she could be as assured of herself as he seemed to be in her abilities. If Lara was by herself, perhaps she could be even with this revelation. But Rutland planned all this and involved her son in something so personal.

_'No, don't fall into a hole you can't dig out of._' Lara told herself, and tried Rutland's name on the keypad. Nothing. She tried his surname, his middle name, even the Junior title. Finally, Lara tried Amanda's. The red light turned green, and the wall hissed.

"You got it." Nero said, coming back to her side.

"Yes, now let's see what Rutland's hiding." Lara replied.

The section of the wall raised, before sliding to the side. The inside was lit in a green glow, giving the area a garish overcast. And when they walked inside, it was straight out of a mad scientist's laboratory. The blood trail continued from the doorway, and all the way up to the open tube at the back of the room.

"This isn't horrifying at all." Nero muttered.

Lara grimaced, the blood so overwhelming it made her insides twist. It did not bring back any good memories. The blood in the tube leaked from the bottom, most dried but the scent of metal and copper was strong regardless. The glass wasn't broken, but there was no lock switch from what she could see. A computer was to the side, and stacks of books next to it. An array of tools were laid on a trolley, charts hooked to the side.

Nero rested the Yamato on his shoulder, picking up the nearest book. His brows furrowed. "This is a book on alchemy. It looks pretty old."

"Alchemy?" Lara repeated, and holstered the pistol through her belt. She searched through the pages of another book, though its contents were anything but alchemic. "This one is on demonology."

"It's a bunch of occult stuff, doesn't seem like Rutland's the kind of guy who'd spend time on this." Nero replied. He tossed the book aside, before grabbing the chart. "Hey, this has the demon who attacked me earlier on it."

Lara glanced up, and grabbed the chart. Scanning over the contents, her chest tightened when it dawned on her what she was seeing. "This isn't a shapeshifter we're dealing with. I think Rutland tried to make an artificial demon."

"Artificial-you mean like Dante's friends?" Nero asked incredulously. "Those two can pass for human, so why did this thing look like you now when it looked like _that_ before?" he nodded to the human cadaver on the page.

"I don't know, maybe it was released early or-" Lara stopped, because flipping the page, she was cut off from anything more to say. It was a picture of Nero, a copy from his most recent school I.D., and the title header read 'Subject'. "Or it wasn't supposed to look like me at all."

Nero tilted the clipboard, his features twisting when he read the information laid out before them. "That _bastard_. The demon was supposed to attack me and get my DNA; this thing was supposed to be a clone of _me_ running around."

"It's the perfect revenge." Lara said hollowly. "If the mercenaries don't get us, then being done in by the thing wearing your face would do it." she raised her hand, cupping his cheek. "I could never bring myself to hurt you."

"Kinda works both ways then." Nero replied. "If I ever see this thing face-to-face, I don't know how I'd react."

"I don't think it's a perfect clone though." Lara looked over the chart again, going through the next few pages. "This says the DNA it gathered from the subject-ah-you, was supposed to make it an exact copy. The demon has my face, and body structure, but it's practically transclucent, it's hair is red, and the eyes are yellow."

"Yeah, doesn't so sound perfect after all." Nero said. "Rutland must have messed something up."

"Though it is proving annoyingly able to withstand bullets." Lara grumbled. The fact they knew what this demon was did little for Lara to understand why she was seeing Amanda. Was she really a ghost?

Nero's eyes flickered up, and his expression tightened. "Crap."

Lara glanced up, and she spied the camera in the corner of ceiling. "We need to go."

She and Nero made for the bedroom door, but she backtracked from the hall once she caught sight of a mercenary at the other end. The man spotted her, giving a shout and Lara pushed Nero back into the room, locking the door behind them.

"Any second this door's gonna be swarming." Nero said.

"Then we're going to make our own way out." Lara replied, and aimed for the window. She shot out the glass, and pulled Nero with her. "We can find cover in the jungle, don't stop running until we reach it."

Nero nodded and jumped out of the window after her. The sand softened their landing, and the both of them made a break for the trees as the door inside the room was blown off its hinges. Footsteps rushed into the room while the two of them ran toward the forest.

* * *

Nero was practically soaked by the time he and his mother could stop running. He set Yamato down to take off his hoodie, his sweatshirt clinging to him as he wiped his face. "I really need to work on my speed." he said, breathing heavily.

Lara leaned against a tree, groaning as she wiped the back of her hand against her forehead. "Maybe we can go jogging together before you head off to pursue higher education."

"Yeah, sounds good." Nero sucked in two large gulps of air, feeling his racing heart slow back down. "Do you think...we lost them?"

"We'll know if we see any lights coming our way." His mother said, and craned her neck to survey the area. With the heavy canopy overhead, the moonlight still able to peer through the trees was minimal. "I think we're almost to the cavern, it was north of the island. We can hide in there."

"Right, no point in standing around then." Nero grabbed the Yamato and absorbed it back into his arm for now. "If I knew how that teleportation thing worked we'd be out of here by now." he added. Nero took in the sorry state of his hoodie, the dried blood and how awful getting it out would make the cleaners ask too many questions. Grumbling, Nero tossed the hoodie. There would always be more.

"Until then, I'll take a chopper or boat, even a raft by this point." Lara said. She gestured for him to follow, and Nero kept an eye out for anything moving around them.

"Same here." The forest was still quiet, and that was usually not a good sign. His arm wasn't glowing yet, so Nero took what comfort that offered the demon wasn't here. The fact it was meant to resemble him, to mess with his mother, was just so _wrong_.

The cave was just up ahead, and Rutland was probably hiding out in some facility and laughing at them with cameras trained on the area. Probably sending the mercenaries to them right now. Nero was sick of this place, and it hadn't even been a day yet, or maybe it had. It was impossible to tell just what time it was from the position of the moon-when they could even see it.

"If only we had a flashlight." His mother murmured, and Nero grabbed her hand, squeezing it comfortingly. She flashed him a smile, and she inhaled a deep breath. "Well, no use in whining about it when we're being hunted."

Nero nodded, and a flood of darkness overtook them as they traveled inside the cave. His vision adjusted, but it wasn't much better than when he'd been younger. He was quarter-demon, so it gave him just enough of an enhancement to be hard to kill and get good vision and accelerated healing. Would have been nice to have _that_ work on illness than just wounds.

While it was hard to see in the dark, he _did_ spot the glint of glass on the roof of the cave.

"Rutland's bugged the cave?" He couldn't stop the outburtst, too incredulous to almost believe it. How could such a man be so thorough with where to put cameras?

Lara grabbed his arm, and pulled him deeper into the cave as they both knew that the mercenaries would be on their trail. "Tell me where the cameras are and I'll shoot."

"Right. I mean, okay." Nero replied. His eyes flickered over to the roof for anymore, but he couldn't spot anything else as they went into the deeper tunnels.

So focused on the ceiling, Nero didn't spot the slope in the floor until his foot caught on the ledge. "Shit!" He went rolling down the ledge, his mother's grip on his arm giving out as Nero knocked against one part of the wall. It was like being in a washing machine, thrown around by the continuous tunnel he was sliding down.

The bottom came fast, and he slammed to a stop on his stomach. Nero groaned, and shook his head as he staggered to his feet. His vision adjusted to the surrounding, but it was only another tunnel.

"Great." Nero growled, because the hole he fell into was too high to climb back out. Better start walking.

* * *

"Nero?" Lara called, but found no trace of her son anywhere. Her insides twisted, untangling herself from the fall. He must have gone down another tunnel. The only good thing about the cave she fell into was it had a skylight. It cast a glow over the pools of water, but the air was hot. Lara grabbed the gun, and dragged herself to the tunnel she came in through, but even with a leap it was too high for her to reach. "Damn it, sometimes it's hard being short."

"Oh, it's not so bad. You've always never measured up."

Lara's eyes widened, and she whirled around. The ghost was there, but rather than the outfit from earlier, she wore a crop top with a plunging neckline and the amulet hanging around her throat, with low riding trousers and boots, exposing the myriad of tattoos that covered her lower abdomen and along her arms. "Amanda?" she narrowed her eyes. "No, this is just another hallucination."

Amanda laughed, the sound high and girlish as it always was. "You think so, huh? You looked so shocked on the boat, in the house, for a murderer." Her smile dropped, eyes hard and glimmering.

It sunk in that this wasn't a hallucination, there was still a shadow cast by the woman. Lara breathed in deep as Lara's perception adjusted itself to fit this new information. "What happened to you that day? You just disappeared, and you still look the same."

Amanda's painted lips curl into a snarl. _"You_ left me to die." she hissed. "You took my whole life away. But I found this," she grabbed the amulet, "in the cave. There was a demon inside, and it offered me power, so I traded the only thing I had left to get out of that hell hole, all to get back at you- my soul."

Lara's insides turned to ice. "I didn't leave you-"

"Silence!" Amanda roared, and Lara's eyes widened as the shadows around the blonde slithered and shifted, her eyes turning from blue to red and glowing bright. "Nice trick, huh? The creature I bargained with in my amulet merged with me, granting me its power to take my revenge on _you_, and that spawn you bore."

"Nero hasn't done anything, this is between you and me." Lara stopped, because the involvement of Amanda caused her to rethink how things were in more detail. "Was this all...your doing? What's Rutland's involvement in this?"

Amanda smiled, but it was sharp as a knife. "James was very sweet and helpful. I actually found myself liking him, and he was all too willing and lovesick to help me with this. I had everything planned out, and your deaths would just be ruled an accident-like mine was." Her smile turned into a scowl. "Except the mercenaries are useless, and that damn Doppelganger got you instead. It would have been perfect, seeing you helpless to fight against your spawn as it killed you."

Lara wondered how much of Amanda was still there, or if it was this entity merged with her. "You involved my son in this."

Amanda nodded, her expression dark. "He is the symbol of what you cherish most. It's appropriate-you took my life away, I'm going to take yours."

If there had been any hope of reaching a peaceful resolution, it was gone now. Lara glared at her, and raised her gun. "Like hell you are."

* * *

The more of the same tunnel Nero saw, the more his blood boiled. Every second he was away from his mother, was another moment that they were both further away from each other and it would take just as long to find one another. And in between then, anything could find them.

"Screw it!" Nero snapped, and summoned Yamato. He turned to the wall, and breathed in deep. Nero concentrated, and swung the blade. It sliced through the rock with too much give, and Nero's brows furrowed as instead of dirt and soil, bits of metal were flecked around the crack.

Taking another swing, the rest of the wall fell away, revealing a bright, white hallway. Nero stared. "What the hell?"

What was next? A lair in the side of the mountain? With their luck, it probably wasn't far off the mark. Was everything on this island fake? Nero shook his head roughly. As long as got him to his mother, Nero would go right through the earth's core.

He stared around the hall, keeping a watch out for any cameras. Nero was willing to throw Yamato to take them out if it came to it. _'There has to be something useful down here though. You don't just make a villain lair and not fill it with junk.'_ he thought.

Turning the corner, Nero froze. For a moment, he thought it was his mother staring back at him. The sight of the yellow eyes and white pupils, surrounded by dark circles and too white skin, shook him out of the daze.

When it smiled at him, mouth tilted up and pale lips curved just like Lara's, it sent a wave of revulsion through Nero. "Hello, sweetheart. I'm so glad I found you."


	3. Mother Knows Worst

Nero wondered if Dante ever found it difficult to look at Trish, because he sure as hell couldn't stare at this thing without wanting to slice it to pieces. "Don't call me that. You don't get to call me that."

The copy frowned, but before another word came out of it's mouth, an intercom buzzed overhead. Nero noticed the camera beside it too late.

_"Good, the clone found you, sport. Now why doesn't Mommy Dearest be a doll and kill you."_

"Rutland, you bastard! Get out here now!" Nero snarled, glaring into the camera.

He could imagine the smug grin on the man's face as he replied, _"Why would I come down there when there's already something that can take care of you? Speaking of which, take care of him._"

Nero's head whirled back around in time to see the copy raise it's gun. A shot fired, and Nero braced for the pain. It took just a moment to realize that nothing was hurting; there was no blood on his sweatshirt which hadn't soaked through the hoodie. The copy fired again, its second bullet taking out the intercom, while the first shattered the camera.

The copy smiled at him again, holstering the gun. "Now we can talk without being interrupted." It had the gall to look concerned. "How are you doing, sweetheart?"

"Don't call me that, you're not my mother!" Nero snapped again.

The copy frowned, it's eyes narrowing. "Why would you ever say something so hurtful?" It's tone even imitated Lara's, but Nero's glowing arm gave away what it really was. The copy pointed to it's head. "I am your mother, the _better_ her. I have all her memories, her knowledge, her thoughts; I can be the mother she never was. No more long trips away, no more worried about dying on a job, no more worrying you'll outlive her. Doesn't that sound more appealing than having someone who will wither and die like everything else?"

Nero hated to think it, to even give this thing a moment's consideration. "It would be nice not to worry." he admitted, before his eyes narrowed in a glare. "But I'd rather spend the time I have left with _my_ mother, not some _thing_ trying to be her."

The copy's lips curled into a frown. "I don't want to hurt you, sweetheart, but you're making Mommy very angry."

"Shut up!" Nero lunged. He brought back the sword and had every intention of chopping this thing's head off, but he saw the image of his real mother there, and that was all it took to lose his momentum. He stopped just short of stabbing it, glaring into it's yellow eyes as the end of the sword jammed into the wall. "Damn you."

The copy smirked. "See, you can't bring yourself to hurt me." Nero jerked his head back as the thing's cold hand tried to touch his cheek, and he shoved it away. It frowned. "You were right though, I am just a copy right now." It muttered, eyes hard. "The process which turned me into a clone of Lara Croft was incomplete." Something sly appeared in it's eyes, and Nero stepped back. "I'll only become her truly once she's _dead_."

Nero scowled. "Don't you dare hurt her." he clenched his fists, one hand tightening over the Yamato's handle. He could try ending this right now, but thought of slicing up this copy still churned in his gut. '_It's not even an exact clone. This thing has red hair!_' It was the worst thing he could come up with, but it was enough for him bring his elbow up.

The hit caught the copy in the jaw, and Nero kicked his foot out. He avoided looking directly at it, but it was a solid hit in the thing's gut as he heard it skid along the floor. Nero pulled Yamato from the wall and bolted down the opposite hall. Dante would probably give him hell if he ever found out Nero ran from a fight, but given the situation there wasn't any room to judge.

The fact this thing was still a demon was a sharp reminder when there was a flash of red and then it was just _in front of him_. Nero grunted as a palm slammed into his chest, stopping him in his track. He swatted the hand away and jumped back defensively. It's eyes remained trained on him, another smirk on it's lips. "That wasn't very nice, sweetheart. Running off in the middle of our conversation."

"I told you to quit calling me that." Nero spat.

"Would you prefer honey? Dear? Don't be shy, tell Mommy what you want."

"I want you to shut up!" Nero retorted. "You're not my mother, you'll never be her. Even with her memories that doesn't mean _shit_!"

The copy's features were pinching, the veins visible through the transluscent skin pulsing. "I'm getting really tired the foul-mouth you've developed. It's because of that Nico girl, isn't it?"

"No, it's because some psycho is trying to mother me." Nero said. He didn't know how much time he had before Rutland's goons were directed to this area. Then he'd be dealing with two problems. "You keep blocking my way and those mercenaries Rutland is sending after me are gonna be swarming this hall soon."

The copy's smirk fell, surprise flashing in it's eyes. "What?"

Nero remembered, belatedly, the copy took his mother's blood _before_ the mercenaries showed up. He nodded. "Yeah, Rutland hired goons to track me and my mother down and kill us."

His mother was usually restrained in her fury, but this clone had no compunction against letting every facet of the rage and hatred show in her features right down to her glowing eyes. "No one's touching a hair on your head ever again."

Before he could move, Yamato was ripped from his grasp and the demon's other arm encircled Nero around the waist. The difference in strength from someone with just a little demon blood to an actual demon was stark as he was dragged off his feet with little effort.

"Let me go, damn it!" Nero struggled to slip out of the hold, but it only tightened around him. The pressure on his ribs caused him to see stars and suck in a gulp of air. Either Dante always went easy on him, or Nero wasn't as durable as he thought.

He gritted his teeth, and held his breath before throwing all his weight back down. Nero's feet hit the floor, and he bent to throw the demon over him. The tiles beneath it cracked from the impact, and Yamato clattered out of it's grasp. Nero dove for the sword, but a hand grabbed his ankle and flung him into the wall. He rolled his head, glaring at the clone as it got back up.

It wiped a cut on its cheek, skin stitching back together. "How rude to treat your mother this way, _honey_."

"Screw...off." Nero hissed, and hauled himself out of the dent he'd made in the wall.

"You've brought this on yourself with your unruly behavior." The copy replied calmly.

Nero was sure he was seeing red, because fury flushed through him and he brought back his arm and from the corner of his eye, blue flared to life. Nero's eyes widened, and the copy stared in shock as a large project of his demonic arm lashed out, catching the copy in the gut.

The demon went careening down the hall, and the force of it knocked the copy right through the door at the end of the hall. Nero stared at his arm, the blue flare dying out.

_'What...the hell was that?_' Nero only saw that kind of aura when trying to use his trigger, but that only seemed to come around when using Yamato. This...this was something else. It was definitely strong though, enough to finally get him edge. _'Can't wait to show the old man._'

The elation was short-lived, because his eye caught sight of Yamato on the floor. Right, island death trap, mercenaries on the way. Nero grabbed the sword and made for the other hall. The hiss of a door reached his ears, and Nero turned in time to see the fist coming for him. He jerked back, but the hand swept back and grabbed his throat, while the other disarmed him.

The copy spun, and tossed Nero through the air. His back collided with a shelf, and he fell to the floor as cleaning supplies clattered to the floor around him. Nero caught sight of the clone in the doorway, expression severe before the metal door began sliding closed. Nero raised his arm, but found Yamato was gone. Instead, he lunged for the door just as it slammed shut and planted face-first into it.

On the otherside, he could hear the quiet beep of a lock and Nero banged on the door. "Let me out!"

The copy's voice was tight. "You'll stay in here until I come back for you. Mommy needs to go take out the trash. Why not get some sleep? You've been up way past your bedtime."

Nero banged and scratched at the door, but not even his claws made more than a dent. "No, get back here and let me out!" he shouted. He couldn't believe this, not only was he trapped in a damn _broom closet_ of all things, but he had been taken down like it was nothing.

And now he was trapped in a closet while that clone was on the loose with _his_ sword, and after _his_ mother.

* * *

Amanda hummed, resting her elbow on her arm, rubbing her chin. "Really, a gun, Lara?" her eyes burned brighter. "Does the fact I just told you I merged with a demonic entity make you think that will work on me?"

Lara's eyes narrowed. "Even demons go down when filled with enough bullets."

"Then in that case." Amanda raised her arms out, her whole eyes glowing as her skin gained a dark, shadowy coloring. Her hands turned to claws and a long trail of smoke ran down her legs, wispy on the ground and giving the impression of no legs at all. Her face was shadowed, blonde hair turned black and spilling with tendrils. "Let's see how long it takes."

Lara rolled to avoid a long dark arm stretching out and clawing the air where she stood. She fired at the entity, causing Amanda to stagger. "Please, we don't have to fight."

"A little late for that, almost twenty years too late!" Amanda shrieked, and the shadows on the ground shot up from the ground like spikes.

Lara barely managed to avoid the cluster, and rolled close to the wall. The gun couldn't fire endless bullets, but she couldn't see anything else that would make for a weapon. _'I need to think smarter. That's the only way I can take her down and find Nero._' she thought.

"What's the matter? Playing chicken, Lara?" Amanda called, teeth bared in a grin. "I shouldn't be surprised; once a coward, always a coward."

"I didn't leave you to die! I wanted to search for you but I wasn't allowed." Lara replied.

"Excuses!" Amanda shouted, and she tossed out her hand. A ball of energy whipped out, and blasted the cavern wall near Lara's head. Well, that wasn't good.

Where was this all coming from? Lara's gazed locked onto the amulet around Amanda's neck. Oh, _right_. Either it was just a powerless trinket right now, or there was still a reason for Amanda to keep it with her despite supposedly merging with the demon inside.

It was a gamble, but it was all Lara had if she wanted to save the rest of the magazine clip. Though it meant she needed to be _real_ dead on with her aim. Which meant getting closer.

Lara closed her eyes briefly, and squared her shoulders. She clutched the handle of the gun tight and ran for Amanda. The woman seemed surprised, before throwing a wave of energy at her. Lara ducked under it, and jumped up to avoid the spikes which formed under her. Lara grunted as Amanda's stretched arm clawed at her shoulder, where the copy had gotten her. She struggled under the weight, and Amanda smirked.

"You always thought you could just charge in without a plan." she 'tsk-'ed.

"Who says I don't?" Lara raised her gun, but Amanda shielded her face than her chest. The bullet didn't shatter the amulet, but it cracked.

The shadow arm on Lara's shoulder disappeared, and Amanda gasped as she stared down at her hands, turning back and forth between powered and not. She grabbed the amulet and her eyes widened, clutching her head with her other hand. "No, no, no! You can't leave me!"

Lara got knocked off her feet by a blast of energy. She rolled onto her feet, crouched low and waiting as Amanda was collapsed to her knees. The energy burst had shattered what was left of the amulet, and all the shadows receded from the blonde, a hollow wind blowing through the cavern up to the open ceiling. Her youthful appearance was gone, and while there were no wrinkles or gray hairs, she merely look matured to her rightful age.

Amanda still seemed devastated though, staring at her hands as though seeing wrinkles not there. "No, we had a deal!" she screamed. "I'm not supposed to get any older!" She clenched the shattered remains in her hands, but they turned to dust. "You weren't supposed to abandon me too!"

Lara frowned, something inside her twisting. "It's over, Amanda." she said gently. "Get Rutland to call everything off."

Amanda turned her furious gaze on Lara, hatred shining in her eyes. "Why would I want to do that? This is just another thing you've taken from me."

"It was a demon you sold your soul too." Lara pointed out, but Amanda only spat.

"And you _slept_ with one to get your freak son."

Lara's teeth gritted together, and she trained the gun on Amanda. "Last chance."

The blonde squeezed her eyes shut tight, hands clawed into the dirt. Her shaking form stilled. "You may have killed the demon," her eyes snapped open, the glow returning, "but you didn't get rid of everything."

Lara fired too late, and the bullet grazed by Amanda's head as an energy blast caught Lara in the chest. It sent her flying through the air, and straight into one of the pools. Water filled Lara's vision as she began sinking, staring at the surface where Amanda looked down at her. Lara held her breath, and gazed around, trying not to panic because if there was no other exit-

There! A tight fit, but a crevice just big enough for her to fit through. And she certainly wasn't going back up. Lara pulled herself through the opening, and swam through the tunnel. Her lungs started to burn for air, and she kicked and stroked fast as she could. Her hands looked for air pockets, before one gave way and she brought herself up.

Air greeted her, and Lara sucked in gulps of it, her heart beating wildly in her chest. It was always a danger exploring underwater, and now, in the complete darkness, it was no different. Her night vision only adjusted to let her see right in front of her, and that was still nothing. Feeling around the area, Lara pulled herself out of the pool and laid on her back to catch her breath and regroup.

She had no idea where Nero was, a clone of herself was running around, and Amanda still had those demon-given powers. A bad situation all around. Just her luck.


	4. Lara's Shadow

The room was expansive, tiled and cleaned like the inside of a luxury condo. It even had an occupant, lounging on a turn chair with his feet on the console, arms behind his head. Crates littered around the room though, filled with who-knows-what. Rutland's gaze was fixed on the cameras lined up on the wall before him, lips pressed into a thin line. He may have appeared nonchalant, but inside he was cursing up a storm. The light flickered, and he rolled to his feet as shadows twisted from the floor, and his Amanda walked out of the vortex.

Her bangs were disheveled, covering her face as she wrapped her arms around herself. Rutland stepped toward her, but she held up one hand. "No, don't look at me. My amulet, it's gone, the demon is gone and took my youth with it."

Rutland grasped Amanda's hand, rubbing his thumb over the skin. "What do you mean? You're still gorgeous, babe. I'd love ya even if that demon made you shadow all the time."

Amanda peered at him through her fringe, before shaking the hair away from her face, and Rutland pushed a stray lock behind her ear. "You really mean that?"

"I sure do, baby. I promised you everything; what's mine is yours, and I ain't going back on that now." Rutland squeezed her hand, bringing her into a hug.

"That's just what I wanted to hear." Amanda said, closing her eyes. Her blissful expression soured, and she narrowed her eyes, all business once more. "Lara's still alive though, did the spawn bite it at least?"

Rutland scowled. "I thought Doppelganger would finish him once it found him, but that caught a snag."

"How so?" The blonde asked frowning.

"When you made Doppelganger, its like you made it _too_ well." Rutland said. He didn't understand how the magic stuff worked, all he did was buy what Amanda needed for it. "Apparently the thing thinks it's Mommy Dearest herself, because it made sure I couldn't see what it did with the brat. Probably shoved him somewhere my cameras haven't found him yet."

"That is a problem." Amanda muttered. Her lips pursed. "I made sure the Doppelganger hated Lara though, so even if the wrong person got their DNA mixed with the artificial demon, it would still seek to kill her."

"Talk about your own worst enemy." Rutland drawled.

Amanda smiled sharply. "Yes, that too does have a nice ending to it. Lets leave Lara for the Doppelganger for now, and find the spawn to finish him."

* * *

It had, perhaps a bit more delayed than Nero would ever admit to, occured to him after scatching the metal door, to remember Yamato wasn't the only weapon he had anymore. Granted, he always just saw his demonic arm as something which was just _there_ now since it barged into his life, and not that it had any real use or power besides telling him demons were around. '_I guess that's what I get for pretending it doesn't exist half the time, I underestimated what it could bring.'_ he thought sardonically.

Planting his fist on the door, Nero brought his arm back and swung. The vibrations went up hand and right to his bones, but he only he only hit the door again. Nero moved on autopilot, ignoring the pull and tug of his shoulder as he kept hitting the metal. _'Come on, damn it. Work!_' He scowled, and swung harder. He tried to remember what it felt like when the thing activated. _'We're not going to die on this fucking island!_'

Blue ignited in his vision, and when his fist slammed into the wall, a large form of his arm mirrored it. Two clangs echoed, and the metal dented. Hitting it one more time, and the door sailed off its hinges. Nero shook his fist, easing out the tension as the projection disappeared. About time. Though it made him wonder if he was going to need to swear every time he used this. _'At least I'd have an excuse then._'

What levity there was evaporated when Nero remembered the situation at hand. The clone, mercenaries, not knowing where the hell he was. His eyes flickered up to the ceiling and corners, but didn't spot any cameras. _'If Rutland did catch the demon throwing me in here, he would have sent his goons after me by now.'_ Since apparently none had come around to investigate.

Didn't mean there probably _weren't_ more cameras though, maybe even around the corner. Nero scowled, shaking his head. He needed to get out of here. An elevator, a set of stairs, a removable door- His scowl deepened. _'Rutland probably had one in his house, how could I have missed it when I was looking through there?'_

The hall didn't go very far, maybe thirty feet until he reached the corner. Nero peered around the edge, and kept moving once the coast was clear. How big was this base anyway? Who needed such a facility unless they were a supervillain? Although, that would be giving Rutland too much credit.

Reaching the end of another hallway, the door slid open-and he stared right into the camera glinting at the other end. It took a split second-go back or keep going-before Nero squared his shoulders and charged down the hall. He flipped the camera the middle finger before using his demonic arm to smash the thing in and broke left.

_"Didn't your mother teach you any manners?"_

Nero almost stumbled, because that wasn't Rutland. It was a woman's voice, low and scornful. Nero scowled all the same. "Didn't yours? Like how it's not nice to lie to people."

The woman laughed sharply. "_Oh, you are Lara's. Always trying to blame others."_

"I don't know what you _think_ my mom's problem is, but she's not the one who hired mercenaries to hunt us down." Nero retorted.

"_No, she'll just leave you to die by yourself._ The woman said coldly.

Nero scowled, but the next hall was in sight and he already said too much. He slipped through the door, and kept close to the wall as he listened for footsteps. Nothing yet, but he peered cautiously around the corner, on the look-out for another camera. Spotting the glint of the edge for one, he went down the hall in the other direction. _'This place is like a damn maze.'_ And he did not like feeling he was the rat.

With there being intercoms around, using his new power for anything but an emergency was out unless he wanted to give away his location. On some level he understood that his mother's work could get her into some trouble, but how did she deal with people who wanted to kill her? _'Probably by being smart.'_ he thought, and gazed around the hall.

There was some logic to be had that, because he fell _down_ into a tunnel, he was underground. Which meant that his mother was likely somewhere beneath ground as well. He could be next to her and not even know it with how easily he'd sliced Yamato right through to this facility.

Creeping through the next hall, he stopped short when his arm began glowing. He backed up from the door as the gunfire erupted on the other side. It was the clone, or Rutland was dumb enough to try making another demon. Nero was betting on the former though. It had Yamato, but he really didn't want to end up shoved in another broom closet.

The decision was taken the moment the door flew open, a body sailing into the hall. One of the black-clad mercenaries, lying limp on the ground. Nero tried not to stare, and found his gaze locking with the copy's before the door slid shut again. '_Well, so much for not giving away my location.'_

Ignoring the blood on the body, Nero pried the gun from the man's slack grip. He scrunched his nose, made a turn down the other hall. It irritated him already by how much of a maze this place was, but now it was starting to _really_ piss him off.

"Shit!" Nero slammed his fist against the door. It was meant to have a real key, but Nero was done with everything right now. He shot the lock several times, the thing sparking and crackling before the door slid open. "About time something went right."

His gaze roamed around, and his heart picked up at the sight of the elevator shaft. Finally, now he could get out of this place. Nero pushed the button to call the elevator, but froze when he heard the fast set of footsteps incoming. Cursing, Nero slipped the gun into his belt and used his arm to pry the door open enough to slip through.

Jumping, Nero caught the ledge on the wall, and hauled himself up. Okay, he could do this. It was just like rock climbing. '_And that didn't end well either._' Bad example, but his mother must have climbed caves and stuff all the time, and Nero found another lift to grab. The copy was gaining on him, and that had him going just a bit faster.

The creak of the cables started moving, and he stared up as the bottom of the compartment began getting closer. Nero ran his claws over the next elevator door, finding the crease to grip the metal. His arm tensed as he struggled to pry it open, but the crumpling of metal below him had him grabbing the door with both hands and dragging himself through the opening. He pulled his feet out just as the elevator went by and he staggered to get up.

Okay, he was up a floor, but where was _here_ exactly? Taking in his surroundings, Nero wasn't sure whether to laugh or not - he was in one of the _ beach houses_. The same beige coloring on the walls and high ceilings. It was a bedroom, but since the window wasn't shot out or blood staining the floor, Nero supposed he was literally back where it started.

He found a suitcase next to the bed, and remembered it belonged to his mother's. So it was the room she got after he won the race. Nero glanced back to the wall where he came in through; the elevator would have been completely hidden against the wall if not for the crumples where his hand grabbed it.

"Did you hear that?"

Nero's mood plummeted even further. Oh, _right_. He glanced around, but as the footsteps outside got closer, he dropped to the floor and rolled under the bed. Nero didn't even breathe as two sets of boots came into the room. Nero followed their path while they searched around the area.

"I think you were hearing things."

"Wait, what's this?" Nero's eyes widened when one of the boots made for the wall, right where the dent in the wall is. "Something's behind here."

"What's Rutland need a hidden room for?"

"Not what we're paid for." The second set came around the bed to stand by the wall. "Huh, you hear that?" The other mercenary asked this time, and Nero shuffled closer to the back of the bed as the clanging from inside the elevator got closer. His eyes darted to the open door, and his muscles tensed.

The wall shoved open with a crash and the copy stood in the elevator shaft. "It's Croft!" "Shoot!" Nero squinted at the flash of machine guns, which had enough force to send the copy right back through the elevator.

"Great, now we gotta go fish her out to get our money." One of them said.

"If she's anything more than a spot on the grou-"

Nero slammed his hand over his mouth, eyes wide as the man's head rolled along the floor, the rest of the body dropping back. Blood seeped onto the tiles, and the other mercenary barely got out a "Wha-" before another _shkt_ cut through the air and he collapsed. The copy stepped onto the floor, swiping Yamato and a trail of blood flicked off. Nero's arm glowed brighter the closer it got, and shoved his limb underneath himself.

The copy stopped stopped in front of the bed, and knelt down. Nero tensed up again, but it was hard to ignore the warm blood which seeped into his side and the metallic smell. A pale hand gripped the iron box spring, but the rush of footsteps had the copy releasing it as it stood once more.

The copy hopped onto a cabinet by the door, and the first mercenary through the door was dropped instantly. Gun fire went off immediately, and bullets shot against the wall, shattering the windows. Nero couldn't hear himself think through the noise, but he was sure he didn't want to.

Stuck between the door and the bed, it was only a matter of time before the copy found him.

* * *

The tunnel didn't seem to have an end. Lara knew it was her perception being messed with due to the darkness, but she could find no better descriptor than that. The only real stability right now was the weight of the gun in her hand. Lara kept one hand to the wall, on the constant search for another way out of the tunnel.

Her hand met air, and Lara squinted in the darkness. No..._immediate_ drop-off, and she turned the corner. At least she was dry again, but that left her to question how long she was down here. Down, she needed a way _up_. Lara paused at the sight of a crack in the ceiling. Her eyes narrowed as she got closer.

There was barely any light coming through, and a sliver at that, but a way out was a way out. Lara slipped the gun in her belt, and searched around under the crack in the roof. Finding a sufficiently large rock, Lara bashed it against the loose dirt and graphite. She breathed in the fresh air, even mixed with dust and mildew. Lara shoved once more, and the ceiling gave enough for her to drag herself out.

Lara wiped the sweat from her brow and gaze at her surroundings. She had been in an underground tunnel, and the fissure now left her back in the jungle. Glancing up, the mountain was at least fifty feet behind her. Unbelievable. Lara shook her head. She stopped, hearing the crack of a twig and a curse. Lara crept behind a tree, peering around to spot one of the mercenaries. Their back was to her.

Lara squared her shoulders, and slipped up behind him silently. She cracked him on the head before he could turn around. The man fell, and Lara searched his person. A knife, a walkie-talkie, a flare gun and a map. Lara took it all, and shouldered the uzi he had before consulting the map.

She wasn't far from the beach houses, but more than that, the mercenaries must have a boat or plane they came in on. Now she just needed to find it, then Nero, and get the hell out of here. _From now on, if a contract seems to good to be true, believe that it is.'_

Lara wished she had her bow, because it would be quieter than a gun, but she'd have to make do with what she had. It just meant needing to get closer, and she'd done a lot of that in the past. Keeping to the cover of trees and her ears peeled, Lara listened for any more mercenaries on the prowl. The walkie-talkie crackled, and Lara froze.

_"It's Croft, everyone get back here! She's taking us out!"_ There was a _crrkt_ and scream before the line went dead.

The demon, great. Lara's lips thinned, because hearing that thing in correlation to herself was strange and unpleasant. Now was not the time though, there was a distraction happening and it would give her the chance to find their transportation and hide it until she found Nero. Lara sprinted wide from the beach house, the gun fire loud enough for her to hear now.

The mountain had a ledge, enough slopes and crevices to climb. While the mercenaries and the demon were occupied, hopefully it would give her cover to use higher ground now. Grunting, Lara pulled herself up the first few uneven clefts in the mountain, before she found a solid footing and made it up to the landing some thirty feet up.

The view she expected to get was the ocean once she turned around, not an alcove carved from the mountain higher up. Lara furrowed her brow, taking in the smoothed down sides. It wasn't noticeable from the ground, not unless one was...in the...air.

Lara's eyes widened, and stabbed the knife into the wall, using it for added lift to grab the ledge. Pulling herself up, Lara was vindicated to find a helicopter resting on a pad surrounded with a raised wall to avoid anyone seeing it. _'Yes, because us wondering why Rutland has a helicopter just lying around when he's got a yacht would be suspicious._' she thought sardonically. Hard to spot at first glance, but the moonlight gave her just enough visibility to see the metal doors leading into the mountain. _'A lair, why am I not surprised it extends everywhere._'

Dropping back down, Lara pinched the bridge of her nose. A way off the island, but now where was Nero? She turned back around, but all she saw was her reflection staring back before pain exploded in her jaw. Lara landed on the ground, pain throbbing along her face as she gritted her teeth. Okay, no, bad idea. Her jaw didn't _feel_ broken, but she doubted it could take another hit.

Lara pulled the gun loose and fired. The copy took each shot without so much as a blink. Not good, it must have been riddled with so many bullets it failed to leave a reaction. Each casing clattered to the ground, and the copy approached with a smirk. Lara's shoulders rose when it rested Yamato against it's shoulder, the blade glinting under the light.

"Where did you get that?" It hurt to talk, but not as much as it could to break her jaw entirely.

The copy tilted it's head. "Oh, this?" It swiped the katana almost lazily in the air, before training the tip at Lara. "My son was running around with it. Worse than scissors, really."

"Nero is _my_ son." Lara hissed.

The copy frowned, brows pulled in tight. "And you've done nothing but disappoint him, time and again." It said darkly. "Since the day he was born, you couldn't wait to hand him off to Sam, to run away and go on your so-called adventures while pretending he didn't exist."

"I would never call myself the best mother in the beginning, or even a good one," Lara started, her hand balling into a fist, "but there was never a moment when Nero wasn't on my mind."

The cold expression on the copy's face grew darker. "I know."

Lara twisted to avoid the sword stabbing into the ground. She kicked her foot out and knocked the grip on Yamato loose. Unfortunately, the hand looped back around and grabbed Lara's foot instead. In an instant the world spun as she was flung across the platform. Her shoulder slammed into the dirt, and the skin scraped. The brief flash of pain didn't stop her though from sitting up and firing.

Unfortunately, the shots hit air as the copy casually dodged the bullets. Lara grunted as an boot caught her in the gut, and it stepped on her chest, pinning her to the ground. Lara tried to reach for the machine gun by her, but the demon kicked it away. She glared up at her copy, who had that infuriating smirk on it's face again.

"Nero deserves so much more than a mother whose only been there when she wanted too." It said. "I can be that, once you're out of the way."

"You think really he'd forgive my death?" Lara spat.

The copy glared back at her. "He's forgiven you for missing out on most of his life, hasn't he?" It pushed down on her chest, and Lara was starting to see stars.

Lara reached for her belt, fingers finding the handle of the flare and fired right into the copy's face. The impacting flash made her eyes squeeze shut, but the weight abruptly leaving had Lara rolling onto her feet. The copy's face was a mangle of burned flesh, one hand clawing at it. The smell turned Lara's stomach still, and she charged the copy.

Her intention was to shove it off the cliff, but the clone must have remembered this from the beach house, because even without a face currently, it's elbow shot out and jammed into Lara's shoulder. She jerked to the side, and the copy rounded a kick into her hip. The force sent her back against the cliff.

The copy's face began to resemble a human being's once more, lips pulled back into a snarl. "Time to make sure you stay dead." It launched at her, katana poised to strike.

_"No!"_

Everything came a stand still. Lara wasn't sure if her mind stopped working or the world did. Her son stared at her, his body shielding hers. Behind him, the clone's eyes were wide. Lara tentatively wrapped her arm around Nero, and her breath caught as she realized the blade was inches from his back.

"You..._why_?" The copy whispered.

Nero tensed up, his jaw set as he spared the copy only a glance. "I won't let you hurt my mom."

"She doesn't _deserve_ to be your mother!" The copy snapped. "I can love you more than she could."

"If you really think that, you don't understand anything about us."

The copy flinched, expression twisting. For one, brief moment, Lara found herself feeling sorry for it. It wanted to be Nero's mother, but without understanding just what that meant. Then it's eyes hardened, and Lara pushed Nero away. She unloaded the rest of the bullets into the copy's head, and dove for Yamato as the clone swiped. Using the trajectory to her advantage, Lara ducked under the blow and twisted the copy's wrist, wrenching the blade from it's grasp.

Lara ran the katana through the clone, who stared back at her. Lara didn't say anything, and pulled the blade free, letting the clone fall off the cliff. She watched it crash to the bottom of the mountain, unmoving. She flinched when a hand grabbed hers, but it was only Nero taking Yamato away.

They gazed at each other for a long moment, and Lara's heart almost burst. She launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around him as he hugged back tightly. Lara pressed her forehead to his, basking in the relief of finding him alive and well. "Don't," she said thickly, voice wavering, "do anything that stupid _ever_ again."

Nero let out a noise which he would probably deny being a sniffle. "It worked, right?" he asked hoarsely.

"I'm thinking about what could've happened instead." Lara said tersely, but she held Nero tighter. "I'm so glad to see you're alive. What happened to you?" She asked when her fingers found a dry patch of blood on his sweatshirt.

Nero grimaced when he glanced down at the stain. "It's not mine. The demon followed me up a secret elevator Rutland had in the house we stayed in, and it began killing the mercs. I was hiding under the bed and the blood...got on me." His eyes grew a bit hazy and faraway, and Lara snapped her fingers to bring him back to her. Nero's gaze focused on hers. "I-I'm fine. Physically. I think I may need to see a therapist again."

Lara nodded, bumping their heads gently. "Let's get off this island first. Above us there's a helicopter, but I sincerely doubt we'd be lucky enough to find a spare set of keys in it."

Nero's shoulders tensed under her grip. "We need to find Rutland. This is all his, he'd have to know where the extra keys are."

"There's more, but I'll tell you on the way." Lara said, and retrieved the machine gun before pulling Nero to the cliff. "After you."

Nero snorted, shaking his head as he began climbing up the wall. Lara followed soon after. She was sure they were both more than thoroughly sick of this place by now.


	5. Dead To Rights

"Let me get this straight; your friend who you thought was dead isn't so dead, and she's like some witch now who wants _us_ both dead, and Rutland's basically her -what-boyfriend or something?"

Lara sighed, nodding as she and Nero pried the steel door in the side of the mountain open. "That about sums it up."

Nero made a face. "No offence, but you get into the craziest stuff. Did she tell you what was up with the clone?"

"Pretty much as we figured; Amanda hoped I would be unable to hurt anything which looked like you, but now we know it likely wouldn't have worked anyway." Lara said. If the clone had immediately refused a direct order to kill her son (and she was going to punch Rutland right in the mouth for that) then the reverse would have been true as well.

Hopefully, anyway, but it was too late for that kind of thinking. First they needed to find Rutland and make him tell them where the keys were.

"I assume this also means you're not getting paid." Nero said.

Lara snorted. "I very much doubt it." she replied, and gestured for Nero to follow her down a hall. She slung the rifle in front of her, eyes trained on anything which moved.

"_Hello, again, Lara."_ Nero went still as Lara whirled around to a camera, cursing herself.

"Amanda." Lara said with restrained irritation. "Last chance, tell us where the keys to that helicopter are, or we're taking it from you not-so-peacefully."

_"Your claws are finally come out, how very unsurprising."_ Amanda said scornfully.

"For the last time, I thought you were dead, there's nothing I could have done!" Lara snapped, though she knew by now it was just a waste of breath.

_"And you're just a coward and a liar!"_ Amanda hissed.

"Your pet demon is dead, now tell us what we want to know!" Nero said, expression annoyed and thoroughly done with everything.

Amanda was silent a moment, before she snorted over the intercom, "_Like I really cared whether that thing lived or not. I just wanted it to torment Lara in her final moments, and even then it failed. We couldn't have any loose ends, so thank you for that_." she said with a sickly sweetness.

Lara gritted her teeth. Having enough, she shot the camera out, then the intercom. "Let's think, Nero. Where's the most likely place she and Rutland are hiding in?"

Her son's brows knitted together in concentration, before his eyes widened. "They have to be nearby, wouldn't they? To escape in the helicopter if they thought something went south. We need to check the rooms here."

Lara nodded, and they both hurried on before the remaining mercenaries converged. '_If there_ are _anymore more here_. she thought. The halls all blurred together, and each room was just as empty as the last. This was all getting on Lara's last nerve with each passing minute. It was times like this she wished she knew how to hot-wire a vehicle.

Nero seemed just as annoyed, and almost slammed his hand onto the keypad for the final door. It slid open with a hiss, but a ball of energy caught him in the chest, knocking him off his feet.

"Nero!" Lara lifted the rifle, and fired into the room. Amanda and Rutland took refuge behind some crates scattered at the back, and Lara grabbed Nero to pull him inside. He staggered behind her, dazed but thankfully uninjured. The blast only singed his sweatshirt, having being thrown from too far to cause much harm. It still set Lara's blood ablaze.

Nero ducked behind a counter to the side, where nearby a large console full of monitors lined the wall. Well, now they knew how Rutland managed to keep track of them.

Lara took cover at his side, rifle aimed over the counter as she tried not to fire at every movement which came from behind the crate across the room, but her finger was on the trigger regardless. "Final warning; give us the keys!"

"Have this instead!" Rutland shouted, his hand shooting up as he threw a small, round object came sailing across the room.

Lara's brows furrowed as the ball landed near her feet, before her eyes widened as it started blinking red rapidly. She swung the end of the rifle like a bat, and knocked the bomb into the ceiling. Lara shielded Nero from the flash of light, and the explosion of metal which rained debris through the room. The electricity went out immediately, allowing in the moonlight from the newly made skylight in, with large chunks of rock from the mountain scattered through the room.

"You just destroyed my base!" Rutland snapped indignantly.

"Are you mad? You just tried to blow us all up!" Lara retorted.

"It would have worked if you let it!" Amanda snarled, and brought back her hand to throw another energy ball. Lara was ready this time, and shifted the rifle before she fired back. The bullet went right through Amanda's palm, leaving a bloody smear. There was a stunned silence at the other end of the room - before Amanda let out a piercing scream and wrenched her hand down.

"Amanda!" Rutland's cry was anguished, and without warning he threw a handful of bombs across the room.

"Mom!" Nero shouted. He dove to her side, wrapping his human hand around her while he swiped his demonic arm up into the air. Lara's expression twisted in shock as blue flared to life, casting a larger image of the arm and the bombs collided with the projection as if solid, exploding on impact.

Lara turned from the flash and knelt by Nero's side as he clutched his arm, face screwed up in pain. "We can discuss what that was later, but don't push yourself if you don't have to."

"I'm your son, of course I would have jumped in though." Nero said, grinning weakly. Lara wished she could scold him for that, but he wasn't wrong.

Instead, she helped him from the counter and through the cover of debris across the room, taking refuge behind a large chunk of the roof which caved in. It still didn't give her a clear view of Rutland and Amanda, but it didn't do the same for them either.

"You throw anymore bombs this close, and you'll be in danger of the backlash too!" Lara called out.

"I don't care so long as you both die!" Rutland yelled, and Lara winced as another bomb went off when it hit the column.

"He's gonna bring this whole mountain down on all of us." Nero said glancing up as the ceiling outline began shaking, more chunks of rock clattering to the ground.

"I know. This can't go on much longer." Lara said. It was a gamble, and needlessly dangerous and completely reckless, but it wasn't like her son didn't get it from somewhere. "Nero, cover me."

"Wh-" Nero barely got it out before Lara dove out into the open.

"Rutland, over here!" she shouted. "I'm a clear target and you probably still can't get me!" She expected Rutland to be angry and irritated by now, and those emotions caused people to make mistakes.

He didn't disappoint.

"Why you-" Rutland lifted himself over the crate, rather than just his hand and Lara shot him right in the chest. Blood stained his shirt, and he stared down at the bullet wound. Rutland's mouth moved several times before he fell onto the crate, the bomb in his grasp slipping onto the floor. "Amanda...see you."

A wail rang out just as the bomb went off, the ground started shook. Lara rolled back to brace against the brunt of the explosion as the crate exploded and took out a chunk of the floor. Lara lifted herself up, eyes trained on the dust and wood concealing the other end of the room. Was it finally over?

The answer which came was a sudden flash of light, and Lara was thrown back. She gasped as she landed on the floor, her shoulder taking the full force of it.

"Mom!" Nero called, and left the safety of cover. Lara's warning came too late, and an energy got him right in the back. Her eyes widened in horror as Nero went down, head smashing against the floor and he went limp. Yamato was hanging in his slack grip.

Lara glanced up sharply as the dust cleared, and there was Amanda, her eyes were blazing, and energy surrounded her, leaving her unharmed from the explosion. Lara struggled to lift the rifle, but Amanda shrieked and blasted another energy wave at her. Lara managed to roll and avoid the impact, but the aftershock caught her, and sent the rifle slipping from her grasp.

"You just killed the only man I've ever loved!" Amanda said, stalking towards them. Lara tried gathering her wits faster, but only enough to realize too late the blonde wasn't going for _her_.

Nero still wasn't moving, and Lara's heart leapt into her throat as Amanda picked up Yamato, raising it over his chest.

"And now you're going to know what that feels like!"

"No!" Lara went for the gun still on her belt, aiming as Amanda brought the sword down.

A crack split through the air, and Amanda went rigid. Her fingers became slack, and Yamato clattered harmlessly at Nero's side. It took a moment, perhaps too long a moment, for Lara to realize she wasn't the who fired.

Blood streamed down Amanda's face from the bullet hole in her forehead. Her eyes went cloudy and unseeing, before she collapsed to the floor in a heap. Lara staggered over to Nero, her chest tight and heart beating wildly against her ribcage.

"Sweetheart?"" she called, helping Nero sit up.

His eyes squeezed shut, before he blearily opened them. He flinched at the sight of Amanda, and Lara turned his head towards her. "What...what happened?" he asked, eyes wide.

"I...I don't know." Lara admitted. "One minute she was going to stab you, but then she dropped dead."

Nero's head tilted, before he stared up at the skylight, his eyes widening further. Lara furrowed her brow when he shifted himself to cover her, before she sharply looked up in realization.

Silhouetted against the sky, the copy stood at the opening of the ceiling. It had survived the drop off the cliff, and held its remaining gun trained on Lara. Smoke was still wafting into the air from its last shot.

Lara held the demon's gaze, it's eyes dark and murky, narrowed on her. Then it tilted its head, closing its eyes before holstering the gun and turning away, disappearing from sight.

Nero visibly relaxed, slumping into Lara's side. "I thought for sure it was going to shoot you."

"I think...I don't think it was." Lara said quietly. Nero stared at her. "Hear me out; I was in clear view. She could have shot Amanda, and then shot me with no issue."

Nero's lips pulled into a frown, his shoulders tense. "She better not show up again and we have to go through all this again."

Lara let out a heavy breath, the adrenaline giving way to relief, and bumped her forehead against his. Nero relaxed again, eyes closing.

"Can we please get out of here now?" he asked softly.

Lara ran her hands over his hair. He'd need to see their doctor once they were home, they both did. "Yes."

* * *

His mother hadn't made him search the bodies. Nero was sure he was still freaked out and shaking to be of any help. All these people, the mercenaries, Amanda and Rutland wanted to kill him and Lara, and now they were dead. Perhaps the only thing he was aware of being still alive was the clone, and he didn't know how to feel about that now any more than he had twenty minutes ago.

Nero almost jumped at the pressure on his shoulder, his hand tightening on the hilt of Yamato. He wasn't letting the damn thing go until they were in the chopper. His mother stared at him, one hand on him, the other holding a set of keys. Nero didn't ask who she got them from. "One of them's gotta be for the helicopter, right?"

Lara nodded, and wrapped her arm around him before walking out of the mountain. Nero raised his other arm, shielding himself against the bright glow of the rising sun on the horizon. Nero followed his mother in a bit of a daze, and more on instinct let Yamato get reabsorbed into his demonic arm once they were in the helicopter. He paused before he put the headphones on.

"Mom, what are we gonna tell everyone?"

Lara stilled, her expression thoughtful before she sighed heavily. "What Amanda wanted Rutland to no doubt going to tell everyone; there was an accident, and no other survivors."

"So, not the truth?" Nero asked. It was like what happened at the museum, needing to cover the full truth because it was too unbelievable otherwise.

"Yes. I'm sure there will still be an investigation, because Rutland probably mattered to his family, but Amanda...she's already been dead a long time." Lara replied, and her voice choked at the end.

Nero hugged his mother, leaning his head against hers. It was like everything was just now sinking in, that this all was for nothing. He stilled, feeling something sliding over his head, and pulled back as a jade stone with intricate carvings thumped against his chest. It was tied on a shoelace. His eyes widened, and he looked at his mother, who was without her necklace. "You...what?"

Lara gently grasped the pendant, lifting it up. Her expression was sad, and nostalgic, and a lot of other things Nero was still trying to process. "This is very precious to me, and I am so thankful I can leave here with the other thing which means the world to me."

Nero's vision blurred, but he passed it off as the beginning of a concussion. His hand wrapped around Lara's. "I promise I'll take good care of it."

Lara nodded, and kissed his forehead. "I know you will. Now let's go home."


	6. Epilogue

"Sounds like you were at one hell of a party."

Nero grumbled under his breath, scowling at the white-haired man lounging on his couch. Nero leaned against the wall. "That's all you can say?" He wasn't quite sure what possessed him to come to his uncle's office to try 'talking.' It felt like he had talked enough; to the police, to the doctor, his therapist, and all other kinds of people about what happened.

"What else were you expecting? Go talk to your shrink if you want real help." Dante replied.

Nero frowned, turning his head so the man couldn't see the uncertainty on his face. Maybe what got him to come here was that Dante was the only one he could tell the truth too. "It's not about that. When...when it was the demons, it was easier." he stopped, but Dante said nothing, was going to make _him_ say it. Bastard. "It was easier watching a demon die, than seeing those people being killed."

"Of course it is." Nero looked over at Dante sharply, but the man paid him no heed as he continued, "See, all most demons want to do is kill, so you can't really feel bad over defending yourself. Exceptions and all that, but it's true. People are more complicated, can do good or bad, but you'd still feel like crap if they die.

"I ain't saying you should weep over them, they made their choice to try and kill you and your mom, but you shouldn't feel bad about surviving because of it."

Nero scrutinized him. "I don't get you sometimes, Dad-nte. One minute you're immature, and the next you actually have good advice."

"I have my moments." Dante shrugged, before sitting up. He gave no indication he heard Nero's slip-up. "Though onto the important part - this Doppelganger, how hot was she?"

Nero's skin flushed red to his ears as he scowled at him. "_Gross_. She looks like my mom!"

"So a lot, huh?" Nero's scowl deepened and Dante had the gall to look offended. "What? I can't say your mom's a beautiful woman?"

"No, you can't because she's my _mom_."

"Well she's not _mine_."

"You talk like that with Trish around?" Nero snapped, but Dante only waved to the ceiling lazily.

"Eh, she doesn't care. Probably up there probably listening in."

Nero was getting annoyed, and it drove away all his doubts to focus his growing fury at this man. "I swear, say one more thing about my mom and I'll stab you with your own sword, old man."

Dante tilted his head, a smirk on his lips. "You wouldn't be the first." he ran a hand through his hair, flicking it back. "Think I'd have a chance if I asked her out looking like this?"

_"That's it!_"


End file.
